The NFL is finally cool with touchdown celebrations, pregame basketball handshakes are now more elaborate than Victorian fashion, and even NCAA transfers are gaining eligibility before sitting out a season. So why are top athletes still landing over exuberant technical fouls for hanging on the rim after slam dunks?

In a recent blowout win, against American Hebrew Academy (Greensboro, Va.), Todd elevated for a massive slam on an alley oop off the backboard. To reach the rim he had to bifurcate a pair of defenders, which meant his take off and approach was more precarious. It left him hanging on the rim to gain his balance, which kept him from injuring himself but cost him a technical foul.

It’s the second part of that above statement that is particularly troubling, because this should not have been a technical foul. As the NBA rule book (upon which most state regulations are drawn) stipulates:

Players are not allowed to pull themselves up on the rim, nor are they allowed to hang on the rim after a dunk attempt, unless they are doing so to avoid injury to themselves or another player.

Todd was clearly trying to protect himself from injury on the dunk in question. He didn’t elaborate his release or do anything except re-stabilize himself with swing from under the rim.

So why did Todd land a tech? Maybe it had something to do with the score. Maybe the referees just have a particular thing for hanging on the rim. Who knows.

What we do know is that Isaiah Todd continues to be one of the most impressive athletic specimen in the Class of 2020. He’s already considered a top-10 prospect in the 2020 Super 25, and he’s only going up from there.